Customer Reviews

Salome/ Under the Hill: Oscar Wilde/Aubrey Beardsley (Creation Classics)

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Along with his superb illustrations for Malory's Morte Darthur, still very much in the style of Burne-Jones, Salome is surely Beardsley's masterpiece. Stylized to an extreme degree, his illustrations also manage to be both erotic and strangely touching. He is more than a cold stylist, but a master of the extreme emotions which lie behind Wilde's strange text. This, though repreatedly dismissed as absurd, has turned out to be one of the toughest works of the late nineteenth century decadent movement. Although rarely performed as a play, it lives on as the libretto for Richard Strauss's great opera, a work that has continued to fascinate and horrify audiences for nearly a century. The unfinished fantasy Under the Hill is worth collecting too, and this economical volume is a bargain.

Beardsley's illustrations for Wilde's "Salome" are quite well known. I enjoyed seeing them, in unexpurgated forms, in the context of the script they were meant to adorn. I think I can see wonderful possibilities in staging that play, where modern sensibilities could show and accept what England of 1892 could not. Even so, I found the script itself somewhat repetitive, with more in it to startle than to explain. Perhaps there's a knack to reading this script that I haven't mastered.

The second piece, Beardsley's own "Under the Hill," is a mortal's visit to the kingdom of Venus, the goddess of love. Although the story has revolting moments, it's easy to become drugged by the thick perfume of his flowery language. The elegant circumlocutions sometimes narrate, other times only suggest effete debauches. The brief story sustains an oddly split mood, comical for its excesses and affectations, darkly fascinating for its content. Beardsley's life was cut short in his 20s, leaving this story unfinished. I have to wonder whether I would actually have wanted to read its entirety.

Neither story will suit polite company, nor was meant to. Both, however, give little insights into artists that are still appreciated today. These particular insights may not be 'fun' or 'likeable', but add real information to any view of Wilde or Beardsley.

//wiredweird

This excellent volume contains both Wilde's famous play "Salome" (and the illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley which accompanied its original publication) and Beardsley's own literary offering, "Under the Hill," accompanied by Beardsley's illustrations for this work. "Salome" is a masterfully-written landmark of fin-de-siecle literature which helped to craft our modern conception of the femme fatale. It is arguably one of Oscar Wilde's most interesting (and underrated) works. The illustrations by Beardsley created a scandal when they accompanied "Salome" in its first publication. They created a firestorm in the press, and they completely upstaged Wilde's work, straining relations between Beardsley and Wilde from then onward. Approaching "Salome" and its illustrations as a modern reader, one is struck by the relative tameness of the illustrations, and the enduring power of Wilde's play.

"Under the Hill" is definitely the stranger and more obscure of the two offerings. Although Beardsley considered himself a man of letters as much as a visual artist, it is his only literary offering. Although it remained incomplete at the time of his early death, even in its unfinished state it makes quite an impression! It is absolutely, wildly filthy (it chronicles the sexual escapades of Venus and her lovers, and even includes one scene in which Venus gets very friendly with her pet unicorn), yet is written in the most delicate, refined, and highly perfumed language. All in all, it is witty, bizarre, and highly unique. It is a wonderful hidden gem of the fin-de-siecle period, in all its decadence and dandyism.

My only (very minor) complaint with this book is that the illustrations would have benefitted from being slightly larger.

Oscar Wilde's SALOME is perfect for the phrase "neglected masterpiece". It is exciting and gorgeously written. There is also a constant feeling of vitality. We are thrown into the middle of a tense situation and (despite the jewel-like language) no time is wasted in getting to the tragic conclusion. Perhaps the only flaw is the lack of well drawn characters but this is rarely felt due to the beauty and strength of Wilde's writing. Many would find SALOME anti-Christian. This wouldn't bother me at all but if you read carefully you'll notice all the offensive elements are in the pagan characters. John the Baptist stays virtuous. I'd love to see a good performance. Aubrey Beardsley's UNDER THE HILL is interesting but never very memorable. The illustrations are great but I'm not sure they are all in the right place. This book is a must have for all lovers of aestheticism and SALOME should be read by all.